Nature corridor will be seeded this winter

CELINA - State officials this winter will seed sections of the Coldwater Creek Nature Corridor, a roughly 117-acre parcel of former farmland being returned to a natural state to enhance water quality and wildlife and ease flooding in the area.

Mercer County commissioners recently accepted a $27,683 quote for seeds from Reforestation & Wildlife Services of Fort Recovery. The seeds are a mix of grasses and pollinator plants, enough to cover 105 acres, according to information from the commissioners' office.

Mercer Wildlife Area Manager Sean Finke and his crew will put the seeds down this winter on the now county- owned property, said Theresa Dirksen, ag and natural resources director of Mercer County.

"We're going to do it when the ground freezes this winter," she said, noting freeze-thaw cycles pull the seeds down into the ground and helps them germinate better.

Grasses and pollinator plants should start popping up in late spring. Some of the plants may grow as tall as 7 feet by October, Dirksen said.

"The first couple of years we're going to have to do mowing just to keep the weeds in check and get that really good root base established and get them to outcompete the weeds," she said.

The area should be teeming with life in the years ahead.

"I think we're definitely going to see a lot of butterflies, pollinators and birds," Dirksen said. "There's a high concentration of birds in the area already with the existing Coldwater Creek Treatment Train so I think we're just going to see that expand even more."

Mercer County se-cured a state grant of up to $1.57 million to help purchase land and develop it into the Coldwater Creek Nature Corridor. It was pursued as a way to mitigate area flooding and enhance wildlife and water quality, said county community development director Jared Ebbing.

County commissioners in May signed off on a project agreement with the Ohio Public Works Commission. The grant provides up to $1.57 million or 74% of the total project cost, estimated at about $2 million.

The county's match was to come from county community development funds, money from the county general fund, the Lake Facilitates Authority and contributions from property owners.

County officials purchased a 9-acre triangular parcel of land at 5530 St. Anthony Road owned by the Miesse Gary Trust and a 108-acre parcel of land at St. Anthony Road owned by Luke Broering Sons.

Establishing a native habitat would further efforts to enhance local wildlife and water quality, Ebbing had said. It also would give the public another location to enjoy nature.

"It's returning the ground to the natural state … and (having) more of the combination of a wetland-prairie grass type nature preserve," Ebbing had said. "It's water quality. It's habitat restoration. It's wildlife/bird refuge, those kinds of things."

Additionally, the site would be shaped to mitigate area flooding, Ebbing said. Some property owners, most of whom live on St. Anthony Road in Butler Township between Coldwater Creek and the railroad tracks, have complained about flooding during the last several years.

Ebbing had said the nature corridor would be shaped to contain water overflowing from Coldwater Creek.

Excess soil from the LFA's nearby Burntwood-Langenkamp Conservation Area project was used to build berms for the Coldwater Creek Nature Corridor. The Burntwood-Langenkamp project involves transforming 88 acres of farmland into a conservation area and an untraditional, upstream treatment train.

"We basically built a berm along the west side of the farm and the northeast side of the farm in the lower lying areas to again provide that flood protection," Dirksen said on Tuesday. "It basically can store up to 63 million gallons of water behind those berms."

The county owns, operates and maintains the Coldwater Creek Nature Corridor in perpetuity. It is expected to be open to the public during daylight hours year-round, according to commissioners' resolution.

County officials are still mulling how the land will be used by the public.

"But certainly the top of the berms could be walked because those will be mowed on a regular basis and they're wide enough to walk across," Dirksen said. "We are in discussions with (Ohio Department of Natural Resources) and Pheasants Forever on different youth hunts and hosting events out there."